Social Media Strategy: listen, plan and measure

Tweet by Art Division

Social media can feel like a very instant thing.  You press the send button and it’s out there for all to see – both the good and unfortunately the bad too!

As with all communication campaigns, planning is key, and amidst the immediacy of social media, it’s crucial not to forget this.

Step one, do your homework.  Whether online or not, any sort of campaign needs to be based on solid foundations.  Take the time to research. 

Look at what’s been said about your industry and the subject in general.  If possible, also monitor anything being said about your company or brand and your competitors.  Assess what your competitors have done and if you think it has it worked?  Good or bad, it all helps provide background information to help you develop your own strategy.

Remember to asses where your target market is as well as what they’re saying.  Their likes, their dislikes all offer vital information.  Many of you might have heard of when Toyota infamously got it very wrong with an innuendo-laden advert featuring a girl’s father and boyfriend.  In the face of many complaints, the company continued to stand by their online ad as “funny and well made”.  Listen to what your audience wants.

Make sure you identify your goals.  Do you want to generate direct sales or increase brand engagement?  Or just create greater brand awareness you’re after? 

Without goals you also can’t measure success later on.  Also, how does it fit into your larger marketing and communications strategy?

The next stage is working out which social media will help you achieve your goals.  Is it social networking sites, social news sites, Blogs or real-time updates like Twitter?  Look at the characteristics of the different types of social media and how they fit with your goals and your business.  If you belong to a niche industry and your target audience already spends time on several key discussion boards, is there as much point being on Facebook or Twitter?

Also, consider how you can drive people to your social media presence.  It’s no good being out there, if no one knows you are!

Once you’ve identified opportunities to engage with your target market, you have to keep the conversation flowing.  You’ve got their interest; now don’t desert your new found followers.  Social media is a lot of work and you need to commit either yourself or someone else’s time on a regular basis.

Once you have an online community, it can even be utilised to get ideas for new products or services and to seek feedback and advice on improving existing ones.  A technique known as 'crowdsourcing', where open calls are sent out via an online community.

Measuring the impact of your online activity is crucial.  Depending on what you’re undertaken, you can measure views, followers, comments or subscribers.  Decide in advance what your targets are or you won’t know when you’ve got there.